The Plaque Is Back Man charged with stealing bronze panel from Goodall statue

Thursday

Aug 29, 2013 at 3:15 AM

By Shawn P. SullivanSanford News Editor

SANFORD — Somewhere, Thomas Goodall is smiling.

The Sanford Police Department has recovered the plaque stolen from the statue of Thomas Goodall in Central Park earlier this month and has charged a local man with felony theft.

The police received an anonymous tip at around 11 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 24, according to Detective Sergeant Matthew Jones, of the Sanford Police Department. Officers followed up on the tip and found the historic plaque not far from the statue itself — inside of an apartment at 907 Main Street.

Officers reported to the apartment and spoke with Zachary Blier, 21, of Sanford. Blier, who was on probation, was arrested minutes later when police located the plaque, draped in a bed sheet, in his bedroom closet.

According to Jones, Blier gave authorities a full confession.

“Blier gave police a full confession after his arrest and admitted to stealing it with a friend on Aug. 10, after drinking at the Green Room in Sanford,” Jones said in a prepared statement. “Blier said after climbing on the statue, the plaque became dislodged and fell to the ground. Blier and his friend then decided to carry it to their apartment, where it remained until the police recovered it Saturday.”

The theft provoked strong responses in Sanford, particularly from City Councilor Fred Smith, who during a televised meeting last week offered $300 for the safe recovery of the plaque and $500 for the plaque’s recovery and information that led to the arrest and conviction of the person who stole it. On Monday, Smith said said he’s waiting for police to give him the go-ahead to release the reward money.

“If the cops say the (tipster) was not involved, he gets $300,” Smith said and added that the individual would get an additional $200 if he testifies in court and “has done everything he can to get the (suspect) convicted.”

On Monday, Jones said the plaque is in “really good condition” and “appears unharmed.” The bronze panel, which belongs on the front of the statue, weighs between 100 and 120 pounds. Before the plaque was recovered, when all people could do was speculate, Smith stated that the plaque would fetch between $200 and $250 from a dealer. Smith, a scrap dealer with a shop on Pioneer Avenue, had contacted his colleagues in the business and warned them to be on the lookout for the plaque. City Councilor Brad Littlefield added that the theft has proved such a hot story that the thief may very well have dumped the plaque somewhere.

It would have cost the city $4,600 to replace the plaque.

The plaque reads, “Erected by the citizens of Sanford to the memory of Thomas Goodall, founder of the Goodall Mills and the Goodall Worsted Company. Born in Dewsbury, Yorkshire, England 1823; died in Sanford, Maine, 1910.”

The statue of Goodall was paid for with donations from Sanford citizens and erected in 1917, on the 50th anniversary of Thomas Goodall’s founding of the first Goodall Mill in Sanford.

Blier is charged with committing felony theft and with violating the conditions of his probation. He was booked and brought to the York County Jail in Alfred on $5,000 bail. He remained at the jail at press time. According to a jail spokesperson, there is not any bail associated with the probation violation, so even if Blier were to pay the $5,000 on the theft charge, he could still be held at the jail until the violation issue is resolved through his bail officer.

Jones stated that more charges stemming from the incident are likely to follow.

During an interview with the Sanford News, Smith said he wanted to see tougher laws for thieves. He said he would like to see harsher penalties for stealing from churches and cemeteries, and he also suggested that convicted thieves be put on probation for three years and in that time be forbidden from doing businesses with all scrap-metal and pawn shops. He also said he’d like to see some of convicts’ income-tax returns go back to the taxpayers to cover expenses associated with their time in jail.

“We have to do things to make people think about their behavior before they do it,” he said.